Distracting a trained guard dog - Page 1

Watched an interesting program on The Discovery Channel last night. The MythBusters crew conducted a series of experiments to test a trained guard dog (a German Shepherd) to see if the dog could be distracted long enough for a decoy in a bite suit to get into a large fenced in area without being bitten. (The decoy had to retrieve a bag ot "jewels" placed on the other side of the  pen.) I don't recall all the distractions that were used, but only 2 were successful. They were able to get in and out of the pen safely by giving the dog a steak and also with a bag of bitch in heat dog urine (yummy!)  They also tried wolf urine and the scent of lactating momma dog with no luck. With the bitch in heat scent I think they could have stolen the whole pen and the dog wouldn't have noticed. Not sure how scientific the experiments were but certainly was fun to watch.

Yea, I saw it.  It was a interesting.  Of course, I would have just opened the fence and let the dog out, chasing after a female in heat down the road, or shoot the dog with a bow and arrow, or a dozen other things.  MythBusters is fun to watch, when they answer those age old questions about this and that.  I liked the ones about the martial arts experts in the movies stopping a sword with their hands (Busted), the one about cars exploding when you shoot their gas tanks with a bullet (Busted), ( and the related one where a car crashing "explodes" (Busted)), and the one about whether or not it is more gasoline efficient to drive with the air conditioning on or the windows open (windows open is less costly).

But my favorite of all time, is the one where they took a bloodhounds and had him track a person, and they attempted to disguise or mask the persons scent.  They tried pepper, walking through water, bathing halfway through the "course, and even dousing with pepper all around where the "runner" went through.  The bloodhound always found its' man.  The only one they tried that had a bit of success in fooling the dog, was doing it in a crowded downtown section of a city, through parks, stores and sidewalks.  The dog got close but did not exactly pinpoint the "runner".  It was fun to watch.

I have heard that gasoline used by crooks to keep from being tracked is successful...anyone had this tried....or know stats...

Luvmidog

Gasoline works wonders!  You put it in your car and drive away from the k9.

Stats:  100% effective

one of the reasons a correctly trained "GUARD DOG" is so expensive, after the poison proofing also,  is because they have to train for distractions.....like Do Right said....most dog trainers and Pd and crooks know all the tricks......the heat trick should not have worked.....or the meat either ,if the dog was properly or shall I say if the owners paid for that kind of training...When you purchase a guard dog, it doesnt come with poison proofing or may not come with certain boundaries of training in place...All companies and trainers that offer guard dog proper training or a dog for that, have a price for every thing included or excluded....

Those kinds of programs alway make it sound like all dogs are trained the same   ,,,,They are not...

Even the best alarm and security systems are continually tested by professionals.  There is always a way around .  Nothing is 100% effective.  This is especially true with a guard dog.  If someone wants in bad enough, they can simply shoot the dog with a tranquilizer or a .357. 

You got that right....It is only a deterant  for the non professional crooks ,,,scares off 55% of the bad guys.....we had one in our automotive business in the gulf coast area...thieves were thick as hairs on a dogs back and it kept those out.....they heard he was inside and they couldnt see at night....would have had to be darn good  shot to have shot him, as he went for the throat if you got in his view....he was posioned proof also...but nothing is 100%

Makes you feel a little bit better when you turn that key in your shop door late at night to know hes there..He was a sight to behold and he did not like my son...at all.....we didnt know till after he died , but my son had teased him , behind our backs...and he got bit three or four times..and we supected he had....but you know  ,,,,kids....when they get adult hood they confess all those things you thought you knew,,,,but some not proveable....

when I was in college, I had a summer job that was next to a yard full of three "guard dogs".  I don't know the extent of their training, but everyday i would give them my leftovers from lunch.  At first, they wouldn't go near the food.  I suspect they ate it later.  After a short period of time they would come running to the fence, happy to see me.  It was snack time! 

Yeah, a lot of people do not spend the mega bucks it takes to train a guard dog...and half the ones Ive seen say on a sign they are, but they are not.....Ray would have eaten up the fence to get to you and when you threw him a bone or meat , it was like a piece of dynamite,,,he looked and went right back at getting to yu....of course , we kept in locked inside at night in garage.....in daytime he was in the office with me ..we were on I -45   to Houston ,,good place to be robbed by a drive by   ,,so He was my body guard....our customer didnt need to come in my office anyway....we had a seperate bay for check out and my desk and all was in the garage.....of course , he cleaned my office desk every day...Back then , I knew nothing about German shepherds, except what John Gritta , the man who sold us , Ray, who was from South Carolina group of trainers, somewhere.....I did not get into this till after my husband and Ray died and I sold the business...and moved to East Texas....

Years ago there was a filling station just a few blocks from my house that kept getting burglarized late at night after they were closed. So the owner was finally talked into getting a guard dog. Of course, I had to drive by and take a look (after the station was closed) as the front of the filling station was nearly all glass and you could easily see inside. I could see the dog laying inside next to the counter and when I approached he stood up and started barking. (It was a large German Shepherd--very intimidating looking.)  A few nights later I decide to drive by again as I thought the dog was pretty cool and I wanted to see it again. This time there was no barking and as I got close enough to see inside the window it looked like there was an explosion of candy wrappers all over the floor. And there was the dog laying in the middle of all the wrappers munching on a candy bar. Apparently Fido discovered the shelves full of candy behind the counter and was having himself a midnight snack. Drove by again the next night and all the candy shelves had been taken down. Still makes me laugh when I think about the guard dog with a sweet tooth.